Prince Mohammed heads to US for official visit, set to meet Trump

Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman started on Monday an official trip to the United States, which will include talks with US President Donald Trump and other senior officials, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing a Royal Court statement.

Prince Mohammed is expected to "discuss reinforcing bilateral relations and review regional issues of mutual interest,” the statement said.

Before leaving for the United States, Prince Mohammed met Citigroup’s Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat in Riyadh on Sunday to discuss business opportunities in the kingdom and globally, SPA reported.

In late January, King Salman and Trump spoke by telephone to discuss several bilateral and regional issues. They agreed to combat terrorism, establish safe zones in Syria, and to strengthen Saudi-American economic ties.

The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US has come under unprecedented strains in recent years.

The US Congress had earlier passed a bill that would allow families of the victims of the September 11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia over the attacks that left almost 3,000 people dead.